H.R. 1, H.R. 2596. Prescription Drug Benefit and Medical Savings Accounts/Vote to Allow Consideration of Two Bills: One Would Create a Voluntary, Privately-Run Prescription Drug Benefit for Medicare Beneficiaries and the Other Would Create Medical Savings Accounts.

In each of the last five years, Congress has attempted to pass legislation to help senior citizens afford the rising costs of prescription drugs. The subject of this vote was a motion to allow consideration of two bills: H.R. 1 would provide seniors with voluntary drug coverage through private insurance plans if they remained in the Medicare program; and H.R. 2596 would create tax-exempt medical savings accounts to help seniors cover health care expenses. Progressives voted against the motion to proceed based on their objections to the two bills. The prescription drug bill, they argued, was too heavily reliant upon private insurance companies to provide drug coverage. Progressives also contended that the medical savings account bill would not solve the problem of rising health care costs. In the view of Progressives, strengthening the Medicare program-and not adopting market-based proposals-is the most effective way to insure that all seniors, including the poor and those from rural areas, are provided the proper amount of care. On a nearly party-line vote of 226-203, the motion to proceed to the two bills was adopted.